Cardinals need more than Carpenter

— -- LOS ANGELES -- The question wasn't meant in a disparaging way, but Matt Carpenter couldn't help but smile and perk up when he heard it.

After hitting a game-tying, two-run home run in the eighth inning in Game 2 of the NLDS on Saturday, Carpenter now has two home runs and two doubles in his first two games this postseason. It's an impressive run for any player, let alone one who hit only eight home runs all season and only one since Aug. 17.

Carpenter was asked what it was like to do what he was doing, considering he wasn't Babe Ruth or anything.

"I'm not?" Carpenter asked, smiling.

No, Carpenter is no Babe Ruth, but he is certainly doing his best impersonation during this postseason. He was the catalyst for the Cardinals' improbable comeback over the Dodgers in Game 1 and almost single-handedly willed them to another comeback on Saturday as Zack Greinke allowed just two hits through seven innings in St. Louis' eventual 3-2 Game 2 loss.

"It's fun, but for me it's about winning games, and it would have been a lot more fun tonight if we would have found a way to win," said Carpenter, who spoke inside a storage room adjacent to the Cardinals clubhouse, which was closed after the game. "I'm just trying to do whatever I can to help us win, have good at-bats and set the tone at the top of the lineup."

Carpenter has been solid for the Cardinals in the leadoff spot, but he's far from an offensive juggernaut and hasn't been as good this season as he was last season, when he had career highs across the board and finished fourth in the NL MVP voting.

"Carpenter has really not had an up-and-down year," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "He's had probably as many hard outs as anybody in the game of baseball. He's had a very consistent approach, continues to be just a nuisance at the plate, and has an incredible awareness of his strike zone. How things are falling in for him did fluctuate, but that's the challenge of a long season, especially after the splash he made last year.

"People are trying to pitch him differently, and he's making adjustments and doing it well. But he's had a terrific year for us, again, and continues to amaze us with how he goes about every at-bat."

It's not so much that Carpenter hasn't been a solid contributor for the Cardinals, but if they hope to do something more this postseason than having a great comeback win or two or winning a playoff series or two before falling short of a World Series title, they will have to have someone other than Carpenter come up big in key spots.

The Cardinals exploded for eight runs in Friday's surreal seventh inning, when Clayton Kershaw suddenly looked mortal after striking out 10 and retiring 16 consecutive batters. Carpenter chased off Kershaw after a go-ahead, three-run double. And after Greinke was pulled after allowing just two hits and striking out seven Saturday, Carpenter hit a two-run blast in the eighth inning. Outside of those two innings, powered by Carpenter, the Cardinals have scored two runs and had five hits over the other 16 innings in this series.

Sure, they were going up against Kershaw and Greinke at Dodger Stadium, but the Cardinals' struggles on offense aren't anything new. The Cardinals were second-to-last in MLB in home runs, 24th in runs, 17th in hits, 23rd in slugging percentage and 18th in OPS. This isn't to say they can't win their division or make it to the World Series; they've already proven that they can. But if this season's journey is to end with a World Series title rather than heartbreak, they will need something more than feel-good stories about Carpenter's gritty at-bats and clutch hits.

Before the Cardinals can even think that far ahead, however, they have to figure out a way to get past the Dodgers. As great as Game 1's comeback story was and as close as they were to another one in Game 2, the Cardinals now head back to St. Louis with the series tied at 1-1.

"We know this is a good team, and offensively they got a lot of potential to do some serious damage," Matheny said of the Dodgers. "It doesn't matter who they have pitching, they have got good pitchers yet to come. We like what we have got, as well, and we believe that our offense is going to continue to put together those kind of tough at-bats."